Hello, I’m Rocco!
Before I begin about this entire project idea, I would like to introduce myself a bit to give you a bit of background on myself!
I am a big science fiction fan, which is probably just outright evident based on this being a sci fi branded blog. Everyone has a different path of fandoms, and I also have a path that is kinda weird, at least to me. I grew up a Star Trek fan. That in of itself is not weird, no. I grew up during the 90s when Trek was heavily prevalent on television screens, but I had only seen a handful of episodes of TOS/TNG/DS9 through my childhood into teen years. How I knew Trek was mostly from the novels. Borrowing those books from the various libraries I had access to shaped a very weird head canon that I have that I still sometimes have to deal with to this day. Remembering missions vividly that did not take place on television screens is both a blessing and a curse, lol!
Star Trek was my primary sci fi fandom until my late teens/early twenties when I began to branch out. The early 00s were a good time for that with Sci Fi Channel having their Sci Fi Friday lineup and their entire programming schedule seemed like a convergence of classic and modern shows.
I also was one of those kids who eventually stopped reading books during high school and didn’t pick back up the hobby until well into my mid-twenties. With that came my slow acclimation into science fiction as a genre and how wondrous it could be.
It wasn’t until one particular college class I had many, many years later that I would even see someone attempt to define Science Fiction. It really is a very difficult idea to singly define. I had a very obtuse idea, but never really sought out to define it for myself.
The class was about Humanities role within Science Fiction and explored many great stories and how humans dealt with and adapted to challenges related to technology, change, etc. This class both expanded my idea of what science fiction is and also put a near-definition to it in my mind.
The teacher of that class used Routledge’s History of Science Fiction as a kind of backbone/guide to help steer and understand the genre as a whole. We went through very broad periods and studied one, maybe two example stories from each before moving on. That’s the unfortunate thing about college sometimes, you can’t necessarily deep dive these things as much as you want to.
This class has sat at the back of my mind ever since that semester. At some point I realized I could get a copy of that book and do my own kind of deep dive with it on my own. I’m the type of person that feels there’s always something new to learn and this would be a fun project to continue on.
Somewhere in that thought process, I realized there are probably others who would also like to do something similar, or have done something similar and that could open up a discussion of sorts. At the very least, I provide helpful information for any passersby who happen to either be researching the genre, or a particular book that I have or will have covered at some point.
My early Star Trek head canon shaped not only how I viewed that particular franchise, but also made me realize there’s not one strict way to go about this, so I hope discussions do ensue.
Welcome to this journey of mine, I hope you’ll join in!
If you would like to get in touch, you can visit my contact page above!
The Approach
I’m going to follow a similar path to what I had been following in the college class. Routledge’s History of Science Fiction as a framework to kinda guide me, but I will not be strictly following it. There are plenty of other methods that I can use going forward. I feel like it would be beneficial to see other viewpoints, instead of assuming one voice is the be-all, end-all kinda resource.
As I’ve mentioned, I’m by no means an expert and I love to learn. Seeking out knowledge is one of the things I love doing. It’s also been quite a long time since I’ve last blogged anything so, this will also be a learning (or re-learning?) experience for me. It’ll take some time to settle on a format, for reviews and discussions, but it’ll get there.
How to Navigate
The Explore/Site Map page is organized by a few different categories/tags.
If you’re looking for something specific you can check through the following ways:
By Decade : Depending on your view, this might be the primary way to check out the path. I feel like this and subgenre will be the big ones. You can follow the path chronologically through as the journey moves on.
By Medium : While it’s fair to assume that I’d mostly be focused on books, science fiction as a genre has had quite an expansive history in television, film, radio, gaming, and comics as well.
By Subgenre : Maybe you’re interested in seeing how the different subgenres popped up and evolved over time. This would be the best place to start.
Special Collections : I’m going to attempt to curate some very special groupings of particular stories for you to check out.
Content Policy
I will be writing about science fiction honestly and as comprehensively as I can. This will mean that I might discuss things that may be violence, have disturbing themes, challenging ideas, and mature subject matter at times.
When I write a review or cover things for this blog, I’ll note things clearly so you can be aware of what you’re engaging with so you can choose to do so or not of your own accord.